catflap.org Online Dictionary Query


Query string:
Search type:
Database:

Database copyright information
Server information


11 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  System \Sys"tem\, n. [L. systema, Gr. ?, fr. ? to place
     together; sy`n with + ? to place: cf. F. syst[`e]me. See
     Stand.]
     1. An assemblage of objects arranged in regular
        subordination, or after some distinct method, usually
        logical or scientific; a complete whole of objects related
        by some common law, principle, or end; a complete
        exhibition of essential principles or facts, arranged in a
        rational dependence or connection; a regular union of
        principles or parts forming one entire thing; as, a system
        of philosophy; a system of government; a system of
        divinity; a system of botany or chemistry; a military
        system; the solar system.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The best way to learn any science, is to begin with
              a regular system, or a short and plain scheme of
              that science well drawn up into a narrow compass.
                                                    --I. Watts.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence, the whole scheme of created things regarded as
        forming one complete plan of whole; the universe. ``The
        great system of the world.'' --Boyle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Regular method or order; formal arrangement; plan; as, to
        have a system in one's business.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Mus.) The collection of staves which form a full score.
        See Score, n.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Biol.) An assemblage of parts or organs, either in animal
        or plant, essential to the performance of some particular
        function or functions which as a rule are of greater
        complexity than those manifested by a single organ; as,
        the capillary system, the muscular system, the digestive
        system, etc.; hence, the whole body as a functional unity.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Zo["o]l.) One of the stellate or irregular clusters of
        intimately united zooids which are imbedded in, or
        scattered over, the surface of the common tissue of many
        compound ascidians.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Block system, Conservative system, etc. See under
        Block, Conservative, etc.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  Block \Block\ (bl[o^]k), n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.),
     D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an
     OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock.
     Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood,
        stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or
        approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher
        chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse;
        children's playing blocks, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,
              And Christmas blocks are burning.     --Wither.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All her labor was but as a block
              Left in the quarry.                   --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay
        their necks when they are beheaded.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Noble heads which have been brought to the block.
                                                    --E. Everett.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped.
        Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it
              ever changes with the next block.     --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or
        shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact
        with each other so as to form one building; a row of
        houses or shops.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets,
        whether occupied by buildings or not.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks,
              each block containing thirty building lots. Such an
              average block, comprising 282 houses and covering
              nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street.
                                                    --Lond. Quart.
                                                    Rev.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell
        which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it
        may be attached to an object. It is used to change the
        direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can
        not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more
        such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion,
        or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the
        rigging of ships, and in tackles.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a
        hindrance; an obstacle; -- also called blockage; as, a
        block in the way; a block in an artery; a block in a
        nerve; a block in a biochemical pathway.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on
         which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to
         make it type high.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]
         [1913 Webster]
  
               What a block art thou !              --Shak.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used.
         See Block system, below.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     13. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public
         land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the
         government surveyors.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     14. (Cricket)
         (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the
             wicket.
         (b) A block hole.
         (c) The popping crease. [R.]
             [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     15. a number of individual items sold as a unit; as, a block
         of airline ticketes; a block of hotel rooms; a block of
         stock.
         [PJC]
  
     16. the length of one side of a city block[5], traversed
         along any side; as, to walk three blocks ahead and turn
         left at the corner.
         [PJC]
  
     17. a halt in a mental process, especially one due to stress,
         memory lapse, confusion, etc.; as, a writer's block; to
         have a block in remembering a name.
         [PJC]
  
     18. (computers) a quantity of binary-encoded information
         transferred, or stored, as a unit to, from, or on a data
         storage device; as, to divide a disk into 512-byte
         blocks.
         [PJC]
  
     19. (computers) a number of locations in a random-access
         memory allocated to storage of specific data; as, to
         allocate a block of 1024 bytes for the stack.
         [PJC]
  
     A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of
        shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett.
  
     Block printing.
         (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from
             engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on
             the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. --S. W.
             Williams.
         (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings
             with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved
             surface coated with coloring matter.
  
     Block system on railways, a system by which the track is
        divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains
        are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no
        train enters a section or block before the preceding train
        has left it.
  
     Back blocks, Australian pastoral country which is remote
        from the seacoast or from a river.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  Block system \Block system\ (Railroads)
     A system by which the track is divided into short sections,
     as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the
     guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic,
     signals that no train enters a section or block until the
     preceding train has left it, as in
  
     absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow
        another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive
        caution, as in
  
     permissive blocking.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  Block system \Block system\ (Railroads)
     A system by which the track is divided into short sections,
     as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the
     guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic,
     signals that no train enters a section or block until the
     preceding train has left it, as in
  
     absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow
        another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive
        caution, as in
  
     permissive blocking.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  
  
        The best way to learn any science, is to begin with a
        regular system, or a short and plain scheme of that
        science well drawn up into a narrow compass. --I. Watts.
  
     2. Hence, the whole scheme of created things regarded as
        forming one complete plan of whole; the universe. ``The
        great system of the world.'' --Boyle.
  
     3. Regular method or order; formal arrangement; plan; as, to
        have a system in one's business.
  
     4. (Mus.) The collection of staves which form a full score.
        See Score, n.
  
     5. (Biol.) An assemblage of parts or organs, either in animal
        or plant, essential to the performance of some particular
        function or functions which as a rule are of greater
        complexity than those manifested by a single organ; as,
        the capillary system, the muscular system, the digestive
        system, etc.; hence, the whole body as a functional unity.
  
     6. (Zo["o]l.) One of the stellate or irregular clusters of
        intimately united zooids which are imbedded in, or
        scattered over, the surface of the common tissue of many
        compound ascidians.
  
     Block system, Conservative system, etc. See under
        Block, Conservative, etc.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  Block \Block\, n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan.
     blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG.
     bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf.
     Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]
     1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood,
        stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or
        approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher
        chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse;
        children's playing blocks, etc.
  
              Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas
              blocks are burning.                   --Wither.
  
              All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry.
                                                    --Tennyson.
  
     2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay
        their necks when they are beheaded.
  
              Noble heads which have been brought to the block.
                                                    --E. Everett.
  
     3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped.
        Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat.
  
              He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it
              ever changes with the next block.     --Shak.
  
     4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or
        shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact
        with each other so as to form one building; a row of
        houses or shops.
  
     5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets,
        whether occupied by buildings or not.
  
              The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks,
              each block containing thirty building lots. Such an
              average block, comprising 282 houses and covering
              nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street.
                                                    --Lond. Quart.
                                                    Rev.
  
     6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell
        which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it
        may be attached to an object. It is used to change the
        direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can
        not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more
        such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion,
        or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the
        rigging of ships, and in tackles.
  
     7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.
  
     8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a
        hindrance; an obstacle; as, a block in the way.
  
     9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.
  
     10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on
         which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to
         make it type high.
  
     11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]
  
               What a block art thou !              --Shak.
  
     12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used.
         See Block system, below.
  
     A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of
        shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett.
  
     Block printing.
         (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from
             engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on
             the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. --S. W.
             Williams.
         (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings
             with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved
             surface coated with coloring matter.
  
     Block system on railways, a system by which the track is
        divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains
        are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no
        train enters a section or block before the preceding train
        has left it.

From English Wiktionary: All languages (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-ALL-2023-07-27 ]

  block system
     n.
     (lb en rail) On railways, a system by which the track is divided into
  sections of three or four miles, and trains are run by the guidance of
  electric signals so that no train enters a section or block before the
  preceding train has left it.

From English Wiktionary: English language only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-en-2023-07-27 ]

  block system
     n.
     (lb en rail) On railways, a system by which the track is divided into
  sections of three or four miles, and trains are run by the guidance of
  electric signals so that no train enters a section or block before the
  preceding train has left it.

From English Wiktionary: Western, Greek, and Slavonic languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western_Greek_Slavonic-2023-07-27 ]

  block system
     n.
     (lb en rail) On railways, a system by which the track is divided into
  sections of three or four miles, and trains are run by the guidance of
  electric signals so that no train enters a section or block before the
  preceding train has left it.

From English Wiktionary: Western languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western-2023-07-27 ]

  block system
     n.
     (lb en rail) On railways, a system by which the track is divided into
  sections of three or four miles, and trains are run by the guidance of
  electric signals so that no train enters a section or block before the
  preceding train has left it.

From English - German Ding/FreeDict dictionary ver. 1.9-fd1 :   [ freedict:eng-deu ]

  block system /blˈɒk sˈɪstəm/
  Streckenblocksystem , Blocksystem 
           Note: Bahn
        "interlocked block system"  - Blocksystem mit Signalverschluss, Zugrückmeldung mit Blockverschluss
        "interlocking block system"  - Blocksystem mit Signalverschluss, Zugrückmeldung mit Blockverschluss
        "absolute block system"  - Blocksystem mit einem Zug im Abschnitt, unbedingtes Blocksystem, absolutes Blocksystem
        "permissive block system"  - Blocksystem mit mehreren Zügen im Abschnitt, permissives Blocksystem
        "axle counter block system"  - Blocksystem mit Achszählern
        "automatic block system"  - automatisches Blocksystem, Selbstblockung
        "partly permissive automatic block system"  - Selbstblocksystem mit begrenzter Nachfahrmöglichkeit, begrenzt permissives Blocksystem, permissives Selbstblocksystem
   see: lock and block, absolute permissive block
  
           Note: railway

Questions or comments about this site? Contact dictionary@catflap.org
Access Stats